


doting

by Satine86



Series: that modern AU [12]
Category: The Greatest Showman (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Carlyle Baby, Family Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 13:39:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14717117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Satine86/pseuds/Satine86
Summary: “Anne, for the hundredth time, we’re fine,” he said gently and bounced Maddie on his lap. “Right, sweetheart?” She obediently clapped her hands, wriggled a little in his grasp.





	doting

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure: this serves no purpose other than sweet dad!fics are my ultimate weakness, and so I wrote myself this incredibly self-indulgent thing. I just want all the Dad!Phillip fic *sobs*
> 
> (This is post No Use, but you don't really need a frame of reference for this except THEY HAVE A BAYBEH)

“You’re sure everything is okay?” Anne asked, face a little grainy on the Skype call. Even so Phillip could tell she looked tired, worried. She had asked him that every single time he’d spoken to her in the last few days, basically since the moment she had landed in New Orleans. 

Her grandmother had fallen the week prior, and she had gone to help her mother with the ensuing appointments and figure out all the needed precautions. Phillip knew most of Anne’s worry for them stemmed from her concern over her grandmother, and he really couldn’t blame her for that.

“Anne, for the hundredth time, we’re fine,” he said gently and bounced Maddie on his lap. “Right, sweetheart?” She obediently clapped her hands, wriggled a little in his grasp. Phillip looked directly at the laptop’s camera. “See?” he said. “Are _you_ okay?” 

“Yeah. Grandma’s doing well with her physical therapy. She just won’t… slow down like she’s supposed to. I think mom’s mostly glad I’m here since I’m the only one who ever stands up to her.” 

Phillip laughed. “That’s because you and Linette are so much alike.” 

“You mean stubborn and pigheaded?” Anne quirked an eyebrow.

“You said it, not me. Now here look at the baby.” He kept a firm hold on Maddie as she stood up on his lap, in full view of the camera. She clapped and bounced herself, babbling happily. 

“I miss you both so much.”

“We miss you, too.” Phillip leaned around Maddie a bit, pointed at the screen. “Is that mama?"

“Mama!” Maddie cried and surged forward, straining against Phillip’s supportive hand until she could touch the laptop screen, tried to kiss Anne’s image. 

“Yeah, I feel the same way, kiddo.” 

Anne looked like she might cry. “I’m coming home tomorrow,” she said.

“Nice try, your return flight isn’t for a few more days.” 

“I’ll exchange it.” 

“And leave your mom in the lurch? We know that won’t happen.” Which was the truth, even though he wished it wasn’t. There was no denying he missed Anne.

“Fine.” Anne sighed. “Doesn’t mean I don’t want to though.” She started blowing kisses at Maddie, who excitedly, if not a little clumsily returned them. 

“Phillip, will you promise me that she’ll sleep in her own room tonight? She needs to get used to it.” 

“I don’t know why you think she isn’t sleeping in her room.” Phillip rested his cheek against Maddie’s, and smiled at Anne. 

“Phillip,” she said firmly. A warning.

“Okay maybe she’s slept with me a couple times? The bed is huge without you there.” 

Anne frowned at him. “Think of all the work you put into that crib and she’s barely used it.” 

“That is not my fault. You were the one with separation anxiety for like… ten months.”

“Well, now she’s fourteen months and it’s good for her to sleep in her own room.” 

He looked between Anne’s image on the screen and Maddie, nodded slowly. “We’ll take it under advisement,” he said solemnly.

She looked ready to say something else on the matter, but in the distance Phillip could hear Naomi’s voice calling. 

“That’s mom, I need to go help her. Talk to you tomorrow?” 

“We’ll be here.” 

“I love you, and I miss you so much.” She started blowing more kisses, Maddie once again copying her. In that moment Phillip thought she was the perfect little replica of her mother. 

“I love you too,” he said. 

“I was talking to Maddie.” Anne grinned.

“Ouch.” Phillip started waving at the screen, looking at Maddie. “Can you wave bye-bye to mama?” 

She opened and closed her hand, half-yelled an enthusiastic ‘bye-bye’ before Anne’s face disappeared from the screen. That did not seem to please Maddie, now that it meant her games were over. Her chin started to wobble, wide eyes filling with tears. 

“Mama.” She tried to smack the screen as if it would bring Anne back. Phillip carefully pulled her hand back, turned her around until she was facing him.

“No more mama tonight,” he said. The tears finally fell and she crashed against his chest, her tiny fist colliding painfully with his collarbone. She was crying rather heartily, fat tears rolling down her round cheeks as she wailed her displeasure. 

“It’s okay, sweetheart, mama will be home soon.” Phillip put a soothing hand on her back, and stood up to rock her gently. He kept talking in placating tones and eventually the tears stopped. He grabbed some tissues, cleaned her face. 

Pulling Maddie away from his chest, he lifted her up to kiss both her cheeks, and the crook of her neck until she started laughing and squealing happily. 

“I know I’m not mama, but dada’s not so bad, right?” he asked, looking into big blue eyes almost identical to his own -- the one thing she had miraculously inherited from him, much to Anne’s delight. Maddie reached out, grabbing at his face in excitement, and feet kicking while she cooed and babbled, punctuating everything with ‘dada’. Then she tipped herself forward and planted a wet, open mouthed kiss on his nose. 

He sighed. 

“I’ll take that as your agreement.” Phillip smiled wide, nodding encouragingly. Maddie started happily patting his cheeks. “Is it bath time?” he asked, settling her in arms.

“Bath! Bath!” she parroted and bounced, almost urging him to the bathroom while she pointed. Bath time usually meant flinging more water outside the tub and onto dad, rather than keeping it inside. He could understand why it amused her so much, even if he was less than thrilled. 

By the time her bath was finished, she was clean, her hair washed and gently dried. Phillip, however, was completely soaked. He wasn’t sure how Anne managed to stay dry during the process, but then again Maddie’s delighted laughter wasn’t entirely a bad thing. Once they were both dressed for bed, Phillip set about the slightly arduous task of getting Maddie to sleep. 

Anne had a knack for it, her presence calm and soothing to Maddie. It only ever took her a short time to get Maddie down. Phillip, on the other hand, was seen less as a calming presence and more as an exciting one. Maddie wanted to play, yelling about her blocks or wanting to get down and toddle along while Phillip pretended to chase her. 

“No, sweetheart. It’s sleepy time,” he said when she pointed at her ball on the floor. He gently rubbed her back, her eyes were drooping, and she tucked her head under his chin. Phillip swayed back and forth, humming a wordless melody. 

Craning his neck, he managed a peek at Maddie’s face; her eyes were closed and she had her thumb in her mouth. He smiled and brushed a kiss against the top of her head, breathed in her scent. He stood in her darkened nursery for a moment, simply enjoying the quiet and the sound of Maddie’s soft breathing. 

Glancing toward the crib, he thought about dislodging Maddie and laying her down. But looking at her face again, his resolve crumbled.

“What your mom doesn’t know, won’t hurt her,” he whispered and walked out of the nursery to the master bedroom. 

Phillip put Maddie down in the middle of the bed, made a cocoon out of pillows and blankets. She remained sound asleep, her feet tucked together and her thumb still firmly in her mouth. Exhausted after several days without the best sleep, Phillip carefully climbed into bed, trying not to disturb Maddie. He had barely gotten himself settled when he noticed his phone lighting up, a new text. 

Predictably it was from Anne. 

_is she in her room?_

**yes** , he texted back. 

_are you lying?_

Phillip bit his cheek to keep from laughing before replying: **yes.**

Quickly and carefully he turned his phone and took a snapshot of Maddie, safely ensconced in her little nest of pillows. He sent it to Anne. 

**how do I say no to this?**

Almost immediately he got a reply: _I MISS HER SO MUCH!!!_

**she misses you too. she cried after you hung up.**

Next he got a bunch of sobbing emojis and broken hearts. _I really am coming home early. I talked to mom & she agreed._

Phillip couldn’t suppress a grin at that news.

_I’ll text w details later. I love you._

**love you too.** He took another shot of Maddie. **so does she.**

That resulted in an entire screen full of hearts and kissy emojis. Still trying not to laugh, he sat his phone aside and rolled over to look at Maddie. He gently kissed her forehead, and rested his hand on her back. 

For a long time, he just watched her sleep. It honestly still amazed him that he had a daughter, and that she was so utterly perfect; that his life was so utterly perfect. Her thumb had long since dropped from her mouth, her little fist curled on the bed. Phillip softly traced the back of her pudgy hand, and slowly tiny fingers unfurled until they latched onto his with surprising strength. 

His breath left him in a quiet laugh. Tomorrow morning he knew he would be awoken by a small hand prodding and poking at him, or by slobbering wet kisses on whatever part of his face Maddie could happen to reach. There would also be a round of ‘no’s’ when it came time for breakfast, as he tried to get her to eat her eggs while she pointed emphatically at the sugary cereal on the shelf. 

He also knew Anne would be home soon, and he would likely get an earful for disobeying her direct orders and letting Maddie stay in their bed. Phillip wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.


End file.
